New Gem Show

[smitcompton]

Hey All,

Just to let you know that tonite on the Travel Channel there is a program on finding rubies in Vietnam.
It airs at 9.p.m central time Tues. Oct 15t. I see there is a repeat later in the evening f you miss it the first time around.


Annette

 

[minousbijoux]

Oooh, sounds right up my alley! Is this the same series that TL was telling us about a few weeks back?

ETA: what is central time? I'm in California - do you know what time it would be on here?

 

[Xrisus]

Should be twon hours behind, so 7:00 PM

 

[T L]

Thanks for the reminder. Here's some more information on the series.

[URL='https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/new-series-gem-hunt-to-air-on-the-travel-channel-in-octobe.193757/']https://www.pricescope.com/community/threads/new-series-gem-hunt-to-air-on-the-travel-channel-in-octobe.193757/[/URL]

 

[JewelFreak]

Check listings locally for the Travel Channel, just to be sure what time they carry it. I'm really looking forward to it!

--- Laurie

 

[T L]

So did anyone watch it? Any reviews?

I thought it was overly dramatized and a bit staged, but it was fun to watch something with gems in a television series.

 

[minousbijoux]

So did anyone watch it? Any reviews?

I thought it was overly dramatized and a bit staged, but it was fun to watch something with gems in a television series.

I was in cleaning the kitchen and forgot. Oh no!

 

[chrono]

Went to work out and totally missed it too. Anyone else watched it other than TL?

 

[iLander]

Oh, you all missed the wild inaccuracies and general BS!

The guy went to Vietnam to find star rubies. Wouldn't Thailand or Tanzania be a better choice? But I let that go.

He said that "in a real star ruby, the star moves around. If it's fake, the start won't move around." I think ebay has a bunch of fakes with moving stars.

His goal was to find a "VERY large ruby so that he could cut it up into 4 smaller stones". If you found a large stone, wouldn't it be a travesty to cut it up? Wouldn't a cutter buy 4 smaller stones?

Then he purchased a bunch of tiny rubies, about 6-8 mm around, to facet. With rough yield averaging about 40%, wouldn't those end up as pave sized stones?

He was offered an "emerald" the size of my head that was obviously a dyed chunk of junk, and he had the sense to turn that down. The stuff he saw was all low-end stuff that I wouldn't even buy at a gem show.

They had a weird meter that I've never seen before. It had a large gauge with a needle that swung from "synthetic" to "genuine" and a probe attached. He just touched the probe to a stone and it would indicate real or fake. Is this what AGL has in the back room?

He finally ended up finding a ping pong ball-sized stone (I think he paid $70000!) that was a pale, opaque mess and having that cut into 4 opaque, pale cabochons with very faint stars. The announcer proudly declared one of the cabochons (about 18 mm x 25 mm) was now worth $20,000! I've seen them at gem shows on the $10 table!

So, like most reality shows, it wasn't very real. But I can't wait until next week, when they go to Tanzania and feed the public more misinformation. It was entertaining to see a little of the country, and hear them says things like "We are flashing a huge wad of money, so people know we have money and bring out the good stones".

I think as PSers, we should be ready for a lot of new posters with really awful stones that they think are worth thousands because of this show.

 

[chrono]

iLander,
I can't stop myself from commenting on your post because your write up is so funny. Hilarious to be exact. Thank you for the synopsis and commentary, which sounds more entertaining than the show itself.

 

[T L]

Oh, you all missed the wild inaccuracies and general BS!

The guy went to Vietnam to find star rubies. Wouldn't Thailand or Tanzania be a better choice? But I let that go.

He said that "in a real star ruby, the star moves around. If it's fake, the start won't move around." I think ebay has a bunch of fakes with moving stars.

His goal was to find a "VERY large ruby so that he could cut it up into 4 smaller stones". If you found a large stone, wouldn't it be a travesty to cut it up? Wouldn't a cutter buy 4 smaller stones?

Then he purchased a bunch of tiny rubies, about 6-8 mm around, to facet. With rough yield averaging about 40%, wouldn't those end up as pave sized stones?

He was offered an "emerald" the size of my head that was obviously a dyed chunk of junk, and he had the sense to turn that down. The stuff he saw was all low-end stuff that I wouldn't even buy at a gem show.

They had a weird meter that I've never seen before. It had a large gauge with a needle that swung from "synthetic" to "genuine" and a probe attached. He just touched the probe to a stone and it would indicate real or fake. Is this what AGL has in the back room?

He finally ended up finding a ping pong ball-sized stone (I think he paid $70000!) that was a pale, opaque mess and having that cut into 4 opaque, pale cabochons with very faint stars. The announcer proudly declared one of the cabochons (about 18 mm x 25 mm) was now worth $20,000! I've seen them at gem shows on the $10 table!

So, like most reality shows, it wasn't very real. But I can't wait until next week, when they go to Tanzania and feed the public more misinformation. It was entertaining to see a little of the country, and hear them says things like "We are flashing a huge wad of money, so people know we have money and bring out the good stones".

I think as PSers, we should be ready for a lot of new posters with really awful stones that they think are worth thousands because of this show.

You said a lot of what I was afraid to say. The tester was a presidium tester btw, and yeah, it's not exactly the most accurate equipment.

The stone he ended up with was not worth nearly as much as was hyped, so I think it was all staged, as was the hilarious government official following him.

Great synopsis iLander.

 

[iLander]

Chrono: I'm glad it gave you a smile. My poor DH, I kept pausing the DVR to point out the errors and by the end of the show, I think DH was sick of hearing me squawk.

TL: Thanks for clarifying, I just googled the Presidium tester (that's is alright) and it specifically says on their site that it can't be used to judge between real and synthetic gemstones! Which is exactly what they used it for! Wow!

TL, didn't you have a link to the full first episode? Maybe post it here for those that missed it?

But I have to say, I'm not going to miss the next episode, it makes me feel so smart. Thanks to CS!

 

[Upgradable]

Oh, you all missed the wild inaccuracies and general BS!

The guy went to Vietnam to find star rubies. Wouldn't Thailand or Tanzania be a better choice? But I let that go.

He said that "in a real star ruby, the star moves around. If it's fake, the start won't move around." I think ebay has a bunch of fakes with moving stars.

His goal was to find a "VERY large ruby so that he could cut it up into 4 smaller stones". If you found a large stone, wouldn't it be a travesty to cut it up? Wouldn't a cutter buy 4 smaller stones?

Then he purchased a bunch of tiny rubies, about 6-8 mm around, to facet. With rough yield averaging about 40%, wouldn't those end up as pave sized stones?

He was offered an "emerald" the size of my head that was obviously a dyed chunk of junk, and he had the sense to turn that down. The stuff he saw was all low-end stuff that I wouldn't even buy at a gem show.

They had a weird meter that I've never seen before. It had a large gauge with a needle that swung from "synthetic" to "genuine" and a probe attached. He just touched the probe to a stone and it would indicate real or fake. Is this what AGL has in the back room?

He finally ended up finding a ping pong ball-sized stone (I think he paid $70000!) that was a pale, opaque mess and having that cut into 4 opaque, pale cabochons with very faint stars. The announcer proudly declared one of the cabochons (about 18 mm x 25 mm) was now worth $20,000! I've seen them at gem shows on the $10 table!

So, like most reality shows, it wasn't very real. But I can't wait until next week, when they go to Tanzania and feed the public more misinformation. It was entertaining to see a little of the country, and hear them says things like "We are flashing a huge wad of money, so people know we have money and bring out the good stones".

I think as PSers, we should be ready for a lot of new posters with really awful stones that they think are worth thousands because of this show.

I watched too, and thought it was incredibly disappointing. Other than enjoying the "journey" from hucksters, to sellers on the street, to the actual mine site (in which the host was so impressed to find a teeny bit of rough). I'll watch next week with hopes of having a different group of hosts, but if that's not the case I think I'll unprogram my dvr.

 

[T L]

Chrono: I'm glad it gave you a smile. My poor DH, I kept pausing the DVR to point out the errors and by the end of the show, I think DH was sick of hearing me squawk.

TL: Thanks for clarifying, I just googled the Presidium tester (that's is alright) and it specifically says on their site that it can't be used to judge between real and synthetic gemstones! Which is exactly what they used it for! Wow!

TL, didn't you have a link to the full first episode? Maybe post it here for those that missed it?

But I have to say, I'm not going to miss the next episode, it makes me feel so smart. Thanks to CS!

The link to the full episode is contained in the link to the other thread I posted above.

 

[JewelFreak]

It's too bad. I'm disappointed it's such a load of bull. If they even bothered to use good gems it would be worth watching just to see them. I started snorting when the under-market sellers happily got on camera, with a police guy nearby, yet. I doubt it was really in N. Vietnam. I'll watch the next one, but if they come up with star sapphires where you can barely tell there is a star, like this one w/rubies, I'll pass from then on. I guess the 3 "gem hunters" are making a nice bundle, which is worth it for them -- and having a good laugh later.

 

[T L]

It's too bad. I'm disappointed it's such a load of bull. If they even bothered to use good gems it would be worth watching just to see them. I started snorting when the under-market sellers happily got on camera, with a police guy nearby, yet. I doubt it was really in N. Vietnam. I'll watch the next one, but if they come up with star sapphires where you can barely tell there is a star, like this one w/rubies, I'll pass from then on. I guess the 3 "gem hunters" are making a nice bundle, which is worth it for them -- and having a good laugh later.

I watched an episode online where he was searching out an aqua, and in the end he obtained something that was a beryl, but not really an aqua, it's was very yellowish. I wasn't sure if it was my television or what, but he said it was worth thousands, and um, I don't think so.

I think they just needed a rock to fill in the "blank" if you KWIM. I doubt he even purchased it with his own money, but is using funds from the show, or the sale is staged.

 

[JewelFreak]

or the sale is staged.

Most likely. "Reality" television, ugh.

 

[minousbijoux]

Oh, you all missed the wild inaccuracies and general BS!

The guy went to Vietnam to find star rubies. Wouldn't Thailand or Tanzania be a better choice? But I let that go.

He said that "in a real star ruby, the star moves around. If it's fake, the start won't move around." I think ebay has a bunch of fakes with moving stars.

His goal was to find a "VERY large ruby so that he could cut it up into 4 smaller stones". If you found a large stone, wouldn't it be a travesty to cut it up? Wouldn't a cutter buy 4 smaller stones?

Then he purchased a bunch of tiny rubies, about 6-8 mm around, to facet. With rough yield averaging about 40%, wouldn't those end up as pave sized stones?

He was offered an "emerald" the size of my head that was obviously a dyed chunk of junk, and he had the sense to turn that down. The stuff he saw was all low-end stuff that I wouldn't even buy at a gem show.

They had a weird meter that I've never seen before. It had a large gauge with a needle that swung from "synthetic" to "genuine" and a probe attached. He just touched the probe to a stone and it would indicate real or fake. Is this what AGL has in the back room?

He finally ended up finding a ping pong ball-sized stone (I think he paid $70000!) that was a pale, opaque mess and having that cut into 4 opaque, pale cabochons with very faint stars. The announcer proudly declared one of the cabochons (about 18 mm x 25 mm) was now worth $20,000! I've seen them at gem shows on the $10 table!

So, like most reality shows, it wasn't very real. But I can't wait until next week, when they go to Tanzania and feed the public more misinformation. It was entertaining to see a little of the country, and hear them says things like "We are flashing a huge wad of money, so people know we have money and bring out the good stones".

I think as PSers, we should be ready for a lot of new posters with really awful stones that they think are worth thousands because of this show.

Please come live at my house, iLander, and be this funny always! And where do I get me one of those gemreaderdoohickie things? It'll save me a bunch of moula not having to attend GIA